Go Ask Ogre: Letters from a Deathrock Cutter

By Bonnie McLaughlin, Jolene Siana, Bonnie McLaughlin

Book Overview

Teenage hell has never been captured with such intense honesty as these actual letters sent in the late '80s from a suicidal girl to the singer of her favorite band.

Go Ask Ogre peers into the world of a misfit "cutter" who lives with an abusive mother in the rust belt. A tailspin of suicidal depression and self-injury leads her to write Ogre, front man for the industrial rock band Skinny Puppy. Soon he receives a flood of elaborately illustrated letters and journals filled with Jolene's most intimate thoughts--from her most painful secrets to hilarious observations and lucid realizations about her life and those around her.

At a concert, Ogre confides to Jolene that he has saved all her letters. Nine years later, a box from Ogre arrives at Jolene's door. Re-examining the documents, she realizes that writing these letters had saved her life.

Go Ask Ogre compiles Jolene Siana's actual letters, artwork, illustrations, and ephemera into a unique and powerful story of an extremely troubled teen who made it through the worst years of her life, and, through the power of music and art, transformed herself in the process. It is heavily illustrated and full color throughout.

Critical Praise:

"Pure, lucid and engaging...more authentic for a new generation of young women than, say, the 1971 cautionary tale about drugs, Go Ask Alice."--Susan Carpenter, LA Times

"Dark, funny and touching..."--boingboing.net

"Cringingly confessional, persistently desperate, yet often uproariously funny. All rendered and packaged in labor-intensive psychedelic outsider graphic design. An overdue riposte to the bludgeoning morality of the fabricated Go Ask Alice."--Doug Harvey, LA Weekly

"By turns fierce, funny, heartbreaking and wise, Jolene Siana's Go Ask Ogre burns onto the page in an intense collage of words and images that together create a portrait of a gifted young woman fighting to hang on to her own life and choosing an unlikely--but strangely suitable--ally for her battle."--Caroline Kettlewell, author of Skin Game

"Amidst the cultural and political corruption of the late 1980s, seeking and artistic teens like Jolene Siana found cathartic solace in aggressive and so-called 'morbid' bands like Skinny Puppy. That she persevered with the help of music that parents, preachers, and politicians condemned, but rarely tried to understand, is a moving lesson."--Alan Rapp, editor of The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon and Dan Eldon: The Art of Life

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976082217
• ISBN13: 9780976082217
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Process
• Length: 180 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.1" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Essential Reading

I can honestly say that I've never seen a book quite like this. Go Ask Ogre is comprised of letters (and a few journal entries) that a young woman named Jolene Siana wrote to Ogre, the lead singer of the industrial group Skinny Puppy. In her letters she expressed the feelings typical of anyone caught on the outside of "normal" existence: all of the pain, confusion, and depression resonates as a true experience captured on paper. Somewhat miraculously, Ogre kept all of the letters that Jolene Siana sent him over the years and eventually returned them to her. Perhaps he has a great gift of foresight; it is obvious that writing to him was one of the only outlets for her feelings that Siana had at the time and that by giving her the chance to view it all again she had a chance at closure and emotional reconciliation. This book is a beautiful biographical artifact. Jolene Siana not only wrote to Ogre to an obsessive degree, but she lavishly illustrated the envelopes, which are presented here with personal photographs as part of the overall message. The book is subtitled Letters from a Deathrock Cutter, and while there are mentions of "cutting", I didn't really find it to be the focus of this book. Cutting is just one of the many ways the author attempted to deal with her pain: she also turned to drugs and immersed herself in art and music to get by. If you've been an outsider I don't think you can help but recognize these patterns of behavior, even if you never had to live through them yourself.

For anyone who remembers being a teenager

I'd been anticipating this book since Jolene originally posted about it on the old litany Forums (a Skinny Puppy news site). I finally bought it the other day and it was really amazing to read, I powered through it all in a 2 day period. It was fascinating to see her take her first baby steps towards dealing with the good and the bad stuff life tossed her way. That's one of the toughest lessons to learn speaking from personal experience. I really think that's something everyone goes through, part teenage hormones, part the fact that it's hard work for a parent to raise their kid without taking all of their own neuroses out on them, and it's a struggle that many parents just aren't up to. I'm glad that Jolene found an outlet for her frustrations when she did and how she did, and I really think this book could help a lot of people. The best thing about this book is that it really gives you a glimpse at the process of self-discovery, including all the missteps along the way, which is HUGELY important. It's too easy to be defeatist and really just dwell on all the things that might get you down, but if you can find an inspiration -- a light at the end of the tunnel, to quote the cliche -- and you're willing to fight for yourself... -Devin.

Brutally honest and significant work

It's not often that I find myself squirming while reading a book and it's a good thing. Then again it's not often that I encounter thoughts I have had myself so clearly expressed and put out there for others to read. Quite often people try to leave the past behind, neglecting the lessons they could have learned and shunning their younger selves as some sort of embarrassment. Rather than do that, Jolene Siana has courageously exposed that younger self in order to let others know that they are not alone, and more importantly, they can get through whatever pain they might currently be going through. Being the same age as Siana, as well as having been part of the same sub-culture, for lack of a better word, this book was full of nostalgic moments for me. But that was the least important aspect of this work. I finished the book in a day and a half, often laughing at the humor she was able to express despite being in distress, and frequently cringing at her brutal honesty. While Skinny Puppy fans will probably be the first to find out about this book and read it, it speaks to anyone who ever thought they were alone, in pain and misunderstood or worse, ignored. It's an important work, and something that I myself wish had been around when I was in my late teens. Even now that I'm older, the story of her survival and the bravery she has demonstrated in letting others know about it is an inspiration. Someone who's depressed doesn't want to be constantly told that they should just cheer up and that things will get better. They want proof. This book is that proof.

Go ask Ogre, I think he'll know...

There were no white knights talking backwards, but there was some amazing heart felt writing in the letters that Jolene Siana wrote to Nivek Ogre over a 3 year period. Having these letters published we see a young woman come into herself during a very awkward (and equally painful) time in her life. This was the kind of girl that everybody wished was their best friend in high school. She's sweet, has a wicked (often self-deprecating) sense of humor, but above all is so self-aware that without realizing it she saved her self from what could have been an awful fate all by writing to the lead singer of a band. But this was not any ordinary band. Her comradery was not felt with Duran Duran, or Rick Springfield, but with the (now legendary) industrial outfit Skinny Puppy. It makes sense why she gravitated to something so dark (as many of us who found the band seemed to) during that time. I read the book from cover to cover fascinated with this girl, wondering how things were going to turn out, how she was going to make it through what she was currently caught up in. I am really blown away at her candidness in sharing such a difficult part of her life. I plan on buying multiple copies of this book to keep around for people. (both Skinny Puppy fans, and troubled people who need to know that things will be ok) if it were possible to give this book more than 5 stars, I would. In the years to come I wholeheartedly believe it will be spoken of in the same sentence as Go Ask Alice. It's that compelling, and that significant of a piece of literature

Go Ask Ogre Is A Brilliant Read.

When I heard about "Go Ask Ogre" I knew it was going to be an experience to read, and I can safely say, I will never forget this book. "Go Ask Ogre" is about a young goth-rock-cutter named Jolene growing up in Toledo, Ohio, who reaches out to her teenage role-model (lead singer of Skinny Puppy) Nivek Ogre through letters in which she shares her sorrows, joys, and rants to him. The book follows through her these letters to Ogre in heartwarming, and teenage angst, the book is made with so many emotions you can feel as you read - which makes it such a great read. I could really relate with this book, because I'm a teenager reading her teenage letters/journal entries.. it's truly a touching and inspiring memoir. 5/5